X关在Y里/外的构式语法研究及其不对称现象

Construction Grammar Approach to “X Guan Zai Y Li/Wai” and Their Asymmetry

摘要: “X关在Y里”与“X关在Y外”是汉语中一对高频共现的句法结构，二者在形式上对称，但在语义上却呈现出显著的不对称性。本文以构式语法理论和容器隐喻理论为框架，对两个构式进行了系统考察。研究表明：第一，二者具有独立的构式义，前者表达容器式禁锢，后者表达边界式排斥，差异源于“里–外”认知域的对立；第二，Y的虚实分布不对称，“X关在Y里”以实体Y为主，“X关在Y外”的虚化程度更高；第三，隐喻拓展、构式压制和重新分析共同驱动构式演变。

Abstract: “X guan zai Y li” and “X guan zai Y wai” are a pair of highly frequent syntactic constructions in Chinese that are formally symmetric yet semantically significantly asymmetric. Framed in Construction Grammar and container metaphor, this study provides a systematic examination of the two constructions. It shows that: 1) They have distinct meanings, the former denoting confinement, while the latter denoting exclusion, the difference rooted in the “inside-outside” cognitive opposition; 2) The concreteness distribution of Y is asymmetric, with the former mainly concrete and the latter more abstract; 3) Metaphor, constructional coercion, and reanalysis caused their evolution.